Fire and burglar proof safe



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/vr g, SAFES, BANK PROTECUUN AND RELATED DEViClS.

Search Room PATENT OFFICE.

nnNnY Gnossor Timun, onto.

Fmg AND BURcLAR'PRooF SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,577, dated May 30, 1882.

' l Application also July 11, isst. (No model.)

" To afll whom it may concern:

sive construction.

Beit known that, HENRY Gnoss, a citizen of the United States, vresiding at Titiin, in the county of Seneca and State of Ohio, hrt-veinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire and Burglar Proof Safes; and I do hereby declare that the followingisafull, clear, 'and exact description ot' the same.

My invention has for its object to providensate which shall possess greater capability ot resisting the destructive action of heat, sha1l c i practically proof against burglarious attacks, andshall be of the most simple and inexpen- To this end my invention consists in a tireproof safe having the door-frame and the. jambframe composed of sections which are providedv with projecting lugs to receive the connecting bolts or rivets and act as braces to sliten the connection of thev sections,y whereby these frames can be made to more closely approximate or tit each other whenl the door is in a closed position, and therefore the tire-resistin g quality of the safe is improved.

The invention further consists in a tire and burglar proof safe provided with burglar-proof plates composed of continuous pieces of welded -il'on and steel or steel plates,oneof said plates extending continuously vthrough the body of cement filling in the safe-body and the other plate extending through the cement filling in the door-frame, said plates having their ends connected respectively 'with the interior ot' the door or jamb and door-frame. t

Figure 1 is a lsectional plan of a safe embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a partial plan ofthe door of the safe, showing the bolt- Fig. 3 is a partial plan of deof the door-frame and doorl 4ovjamb frame. Fig. 4 isa perspective viewofa -ofa portion of the door-frame,

portion ot' thecast-irou door-jamb frame. Fig. 5 is a perspectiveviewof a portion of thedoorframe. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the door-frame, showing the bolt-work attached thereto. Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing aslight modification ot' the bolt-work.

Y Before describing 'my invention in detail I will call attention tosome of the important defects ofs'afes as at present constructed, and

' invention toeradiedges of the door and, furthermore,

.equal strength.

\It is-gencrally understood that the tit between the cast-iron frame which forms the and the cast-iron which forms the jamb into which the door closes is not a very perfect one by reason ot' the inaccuracies developed in. the casting of said frames, such as warping and shrinking of the metal naturally produce; and it has been customary to secure an approximately-close tby means of l putty, tiling, scraping, and painting. In point of fact it became impossible to design the pa'tterns so that a close tit could besecured in the castings, because of the uncertainty ot' securing uniform castings,'and the looseness of tit which thus became perfectly overcome by the unujorkmanlike meansabove referred to. The chief reason for this imperfection ofthe frame-castings was the fact that the frame was cast ina single piece, necessitating that it should be cast upon edge,(with the greatestcxtentof metal in a vertical plane,) liable to cold short and unequal shrinkage,

' the length ofthe sides the frame was controlled entirely by the action ot' the iron in cooling, and the size of the door or the corresponding came a matter forconjecture only. Again, i'n the present form of bolt-work, where thc bolts are formed of round iron and their sockets in the jamb are merely holes bored through the thin cast-iron jamb-frame, it is very evident that the bolt is much stronger than its socket', and consequently it lacks that intelligent design Which proportions all parts so as to be of The result is that for a given strengthlof'fastcniug'the bolt is superluously strong and expensive, and its form is also .of the most expensive construction, requiring lathe-work and fitting. Then, again, according to present practice, in supplying a tirewhereby' the metal was" opening in the safe beprooi` sat'e `with burglar-proof lining it has been customary to secure timmediately within the fire-proof walls, the result being that if attacked by burglars it can be got at by removing thc cement filling from in front of a portion of it, and can then: bepunched iu sufficiently tc give access to the safe; or, if the burglar-proof platebe secured to the outside of the tire-proof.- cement filling, .it can be stripped oit, so as to permitaccess tothe tilling, which canbc easilypenetrated.

a l atacar The above are some of the defects of the present practice of safe construction, and in the following'description I will try to explain nhow I propose to obviate them.

In the drawings, A represents the body or llng of a tire-proof safe, surrounded by the customary sheet-iron walls, a a, secured at the B is the door ofthe safe, formed ot' vsucient depth to contain the proper amount ot' cement gllifn g to resist heat, and havin g the usual sheetiron front and back 'retaining-plates, b b. These 'plates are secured toa thin cast-iron frameof suticientdepth to secure the proper separationy of theplates, andv this frame forms the edges ofthe door. The walls a a of the safe are also secured infront to a thin cast-iron frame,which is of sufficient depth to make the front wall of the `safe equal in thickness to the thickness ot' the door, and this frame is made to conform in shape and extent to the frame which forms the Vedge of the door, so that when the door closes "into it the're'shall be a close and accurate tit,

that will prevent the ingress of heated air, 85e.

i These frameslare made to incline somewhat from a right angle to the surface ot' the door andfront ofthe safe in the usual manner, but instead of being broken by steps thesur-` l' `faces ofwhichare parallel tothe surface of the door, as has heretoforefbeen the custon1, they are provided on all sides except the hinge sidel'wth continuous grooves and projections,

which engage each other when thedoor is closcd,the groovescheing locatedjn the frame r4which forms the opening in the safe and the i t proj'ectionsb being loczftedin the frame which forms the edge ot' the door. One of the continuous projections on the door-traine islocatedat its extreme innermost part, andthe other is located'near the front part and fo'rms an oftset or overhang inthe frame, while the grooves in the frame which forms the door-openin g are located to correspond with the projections, so that they shall receive them when the door is in a closed position,

lIn order to avoid the defects ot' sai'e construction referred to hereinbefore, l construct'the door-frame of four distinct pieces or sections, B B', of castiron, and these sections are provided with ears .or lugs b2 b2, which mutually overleg-.and lwhen joined by bolts or rivets forni a rin joint between two contiguous sections. Each section bonn'ds one edge ot the door, and the lugs b2 are t'orniedu'pon the sections at their ends, so as to lap each other at v the corners of the door. These lugs are formed with straight edges on the side nearest the ends of the frame-sections and at right angles thereto, so as to rest firmly against the con tiguous section and prevent any tendency in the framesections to sag at the rivet-joints.

The frame that forms the door-opening in the safe is also -inadc'of four distinct pieces or sections, U C, of castiron,andthese sections are provided with lugsor projections c c', formed upon their sides near the end, which lugs overlap and are joined bylrivcts or bolts te secure the pieces or sections ot' the frame together.

These lugs appear upon the outside ot1 *the corners ot' the jamb-frame when secured together., and they vare-formed with straight edges to r'est against their contiguous sections ot the frame and stitfen thejoint between.

It should be stated that the lugs Z1 b2 ot' the door-frame appearupon the inside surface of the corners when the sections ofthe framev` arejoined together, so that the outside surface of thccornerssh'all presentl asmooth and 'unobstructed'surface.4

By constructing the frames in sections, as above described, I am enabled to cast them with the greatest extent ot' metal in a horiframe, und beth the sections of the door-frame and door-jamb frame' may be surfaeed'down to secure as close a tit as desired between the door and jamb.

The bol t-workis composed ofswinging plates D D uponV the front andstop and'bottoin edges/ ofthe door, said plates having lugs d d, by which they are secured at or .near thc-inner edge of the frame by pivots d d passing vthrough lugs d? d? upon theinside of theframe B' Bv. The plates DD are adapted to swing outward from the surface of the frame B B and engage depressions c2 c2 in the jainb-fraine, and when, withdrawn from depressions c2 c? or unholted the said plates enter recesses dit? in the frames B' B', so as to he clear-ot thejamb when opening the door. The platesare so attached to the door-frame that when theirfree redges engage thedepressions c? czin thejainb their hinge edges will rest against the shoulT ders d4 d* at the base of the recesses d? d, and 'the strain will be transmitted directly to the frame and not through the pivots d d.

Secured to 0r formed upon the'lugs dfd 'et'.

the hinged bolts D D are small pins erprojections, d d, which engage with the striliingf bar E or through links f with the bell-cranks F, which in turn engagey with the striking-bar. The striking-bar is operated by drive-wheel G on spindle G through dog H, so as to ima part the necessary motion to the bolts D D,

and the dog is controlled by suitable tnniblcrs,

I, thatcan be operated by the drive wheel in the customary manner.

The bolts DD may be continuous, so as that one bolt will extend nearly the entire lengthot.

a side of the door, as shown in Fig., G; or they aan satte, eANKPeoirencN Sgm mgm M aunetmimutwersold style of bo1twork in that they distribute proof safe'I consider much cheaper and better the strain along an extended portion of the than the practice of putting-a burglar-proof jamb and enable the jamb` to withstand much box within a fire-proof shell, and Vit does not greater strains than it does under the presentv Waste the room within the\ safe tg the same 4,5` 5 arrangement. Furthermore, the bolt-work as extent. L

thus arranged is exceedingly simple and inlPrior to my invention the door-frame o'f'a expensive, as the only fitting the bolts reouire safe has been provided with a recess and a is the fitting of the pivots d d. hinged locking-plate arranged therein, andthe The striking-bar E, dog H", drive-wheel G, door-jamb has-in one instance been provided 5o ro and lock-tumblers, are located in a ccmpartwith a longitudinal rib for engaging the outer .Y ment, J, formed in the door by the partitionK, edge of said locking-plate, and inanother inwhich separates it from' the cement filling. stance with a recess for receiving a'projection is the burglanproof lining,. formed of on said locking-plate. Hence these features welded iron and steel or steel-plate. The back, are not herein broadly claimed. 5 5 r 5 two sides, and front ofthe safe are incased in Having thus described my invention, whatI one continuous sheet, bent around the safe and claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

secured to thejambframe at l, as shown. The is top, bottom, and top and bottom portions of 1. In a tire-proof safe, the door-frame B B the frontl not covered by the main plate are and the door-jamb frame C C, constructed in 6o 2o covered byplates which arcsecured to the sections and provided with ,lugs b2 Wand c c', main plate'by angle-iron strips at the interrespectively, to'receive thec'onnecting bolts or secting corners. The plate L is secured, as rivets, and acting as braces to stien the conshown,in the c enter ofthe eement'lling, and. nection of the sections, substantially as and an extension, l',of it extends through the door for the purpose specified. y' 65 2'5 in like mannerand is secured by its edges to 2. In a iire and burglar proof safe, the burgthe door-frame, as shown. By locating this lar-proof plates L and l', composed of continuarmor within the body of the cement llling ous pieces of welded iron and steel or steel- `the following advantages accrue: The plate plate, the plate L extending continuously cannot be stripped oli' as it could if secured through the body of cement filling in the safe-'7o 3o upon the outside of the safe, and it cannot be body and the plate Z extending through the punchcdvin as it could if located upon the in-A cement filling in the door-frame, said plates side ot' the safe by reason of the cement backhaving their ends connected respectively with ing on both sides, which must be removed euthe interior of the door-jamb and door-frame, tirely before the saidrarmor can be displaced. substantially as and for the purpose'described. 7 5 3 5 This is not the case when the plate is secured In' testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe upon the inside of the safe in the ordinary way, my name in the presence of the witnesses herefor the removal of a very few squareinches of unto.

cement will give access to the plate, and it can HENRY GROSS;

then be caused'to yield with a. punch, nas- Witnesses: t 4o much as it has no backing. HEFRY GROMWELL,

This manner of making a fire and burglar A. C. BARBOUR. 

